The Uneventful Life of Harvey Mackler

c h a p t e r | e l e v e n

     "SO ESSENTIALLY, I'VE sold myself to the devil."

"I really do love these calls of ours, Harvey. I especially love the part where you wake me up at 4 AM, and start the conversation with these type of phrases instead of saying 'hello' or 'good morning'."

In case you couldn't tell, Gia gets extra-sarcastic when woken up in the wee hours of the morning.

"Technically, it's 4:55, so it's closer to 5 AM. And in my defence, I did try calling you earlier in the day. This is the first time you've picked up."

"Oh." I hear rustling from Gia's end of the phone. "I lent my cell to one of my cousins yesterday to play video games, but I turned off the Wi-Fi and switched to airplane mode, so he didn't accidentally go calling someone or liking random posts on the Internet. It must just be turning back on now..." she murmurs. "Anyway, what were you saying?"

"I gave Finn an IOU note."

"I told you, you should stop giving those out," Gia chides. "They're really ominous and they leave you totally liable to do whatever the person asks."

"I know. Nowadays, I usually just give them to you, or one of the boys when I can't be bothered to bargain properly. I wasn't thinking. I did it out of habit."

"Well, you have to accept the consequences of your action. It wouldn't look good on you to back out."

"True, but can't I back out anyway?" I moan. I flop onto my bed, lying flat on my back so I am facing the ceiling. "I feel like he's going to ask me to do something I really don't want to do."

"Then you shouldn't have given him one in the first place," Gia replies. "Why do you owe him anyway?"

"He helped me find a pet for Harry and told me what sort of pet Hayden plans on getting as well."

"So you sold your life away for a bet."

I heave a sigh. "I know. Pathetic, isn't it?"

Gia hums in agreement. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't think Finn would ask you to do anything awful. He seems like a nice guy. And he doesn't look too bad either."

I sit up. "How would you know what he looks like? You've never met him."

"I stalked Jay's Instagram the other day," Gia casually mentions, mid-yawn. "The three of them took a selfie together at Hunter's bonfire party."

That's true. I remember liking that post myself.

"He's the blond one, right?" she asks in confirmation.

"Yeah..."

"He's—"

I narrow my eyes. "If you're about to say anything along the lines of 'he's cute', 'hot' or 'conventionally attractive', I will end this call right now."

"I wasn't going to, but it puts my heart at ease to know that you're not blind."

"I know you, Benedetti, and I don't believe you in the slightest."

"Whatever," Gia replies. "What are you doing now, by the way? It's pretty late where you are too."

"Just getting ready for bed," I answer back. "I was at the Hole for a couple hours. I've finally finished rereading Book One, so now I'm on to the second book."

"Well done," Gia says drily. I ignore her sarcastic tone, attributing it to sleep deprivation.

"You know, I definitely recommend reading on. It's so much better than the first book. And the cliffhanger makes so much more sense when you get to Chapter 4."